Checking in...

Now that we're into March, and life is about to get a lot busier, I decided that it was probably time to check in with my 2010 Blogging Goals and revamp them to fit with this season of life.

Major Goal: Increase the number of readers.

I've been consistently growing in readership over the past three months (thanks to all of you!!!).  I ran a comparison of my average number of readers from this previous week versus the same time period in December.  I am up 185.19% in the number of visitors to my blog.

One way I've been attempting to "gain readers" is through a "real post" each day of the week (in addition to any reviews I may share).  While I have been able to meet this goal most of the time, I'm finding that it may be slightly high for my current season of life.  I want to continue to post regularly, but I'm going to back down from posting every day to only scheduling posts Monday through Friday.  That doesn't mean I won't post on the weekends occasionally, but it won't be a regular occurrence.

One reason for fewer posts will be so that I can take the time I'd like to visit other blogs and build relationships with my readers.  Most of the "visiting" is currently taking place during the weekend, so I want to allow myself more time to do so without spending all weekend on the computer.

I have also started to participate in a few memes each week, which has brought additional traffic to my blog.  I will continue to participate in these memes, as they fit with my blog content.

Major Goal: Spend less time on the computer and more time with my kids.

This has definitely been an area of struggle for me.  I did great for about a week.   Then, my schedule changed so the hours I had allotted to blogging and computer time needed to be adjusted, and I got tired of having to switch "between accounts" (as I had actually "locked" myself out of the computer during non-computer times) to allow myself to get on when I had time.

As I enter this new season of life, I'd like to try to come back to this idea of setting limits on my computer time, using a timer to help my monitor my time on the computer.  I'll have a link to this timer on my desktop, so when I get on the computer, I remember to set it right away.

I do want to start writing posts ahead again, as it definitely saves me computer time.  We'll see how this pans out as time goes on.

Major Goal: Redesign my blog to "work" for me.

I have actually made great strides in this area over the past few months.  As I have time, I will begin to reveal the new layout and design I've created for this blog.  (It's currently being used on a "test blog" until I get the kinks out and get it "just right".)

I recently switched my comments over to Disqus in order to be able to better communicate with my readers, as well as to foster interaction within the comments section of each post.

I've added Google AdSense and Amazon Affiliates to my blog, in addition to my other affiliate links (along the right hand side of the blog) to help generate revenue for the blog.  I've also started working with various companies to provide giveaways for you, and I look forward to hosting more giveaways in the future.

All in all, I've been doing well as far as following my blogging goals.  I'll be stepping back a little bit over the next few months as I enter this new season of life, but I want to continue to build on what I've been able to do the past 2.5 months.